The action broadens the scope of the U.S. effort to counter products from entering the country that the government says are tied to human rights abusesand a Chinese maker of artificial sweetener, accusing both of being involved in the use of forced labor from China's far-west region of Xinjiang.
“Today’s actions reaffirm our commitment to eliminating forced labor from U.S. supply chains and upholding our values of human rights for all,” said Robert Silvers, undersecretary of Homeland Security for policy. “No sector is off-limits. We will continue to identify entities across industries and hold accountable those who seek to profit from exploitation and abuse.”
The new approach marked a shift in the U.S. trade relationship with China to increasingly take into account national security and human rights. Beijing has accused the U.S. of using human rights as a pretext to suppress China’s economic growth. He said the law “changed the dynamic in terms of putting the onus on importers to know their own supply chains" and that its enforcement had showed that the U.S. could “do the right thing” without halting normal trade.